Rona Vintage RA-302 Mastering Compressor is a stereo mastering compressor in the Rona Vintage line from Rona Audio, with the unit’s own front panel as the interface. Every knob and switch you see works; the circuit behind them is modelled stage by stage so the controls interact the way the hardware’s do.
- LEFT THRESHOLD — left channel: the level above which gain reduction starts, -20 to +20 dB (RMS of the sidechain signal)
- LEFT RATIO — left channel: compression ratio 1.5:1 to 10:1
- LEFT ATTACK — left channel: how fast gain reduction builds, 0.1 to 30 ms
- L RELEASE — left channel: how fast the gain recovers, 0.1 to 1.6 s; the last part of the travel is AUTO (programme-dependent: 80 ms for brief, light reduction up to 1.2 s for deep, sustained reduction)
- LEFT KNEE — left channel: SOFT (0 %, the ratio blends in over 24 dB round the threshold) to HARD (100 %, a sharp corner)
- LEFT MAKE UP — left channel: gain after the compressor, -12 to +12 dB
- LEFT IN — left channel compressor in or out of circuit (click-free crossfade); OFF passes the channel untouched
- LEFT HPF — left channel: a 12 dB/oct high-pass at HPF FREQ in the sidechain (the detector only), so bass does not pump the compressor
- RIGHT THRESHOLD — right channel: the level above which gain reduction starts, -20 to +20 dB (RMS of the sidechain signal)
- RIGHT RATIO — right channel: compression ratio 1.5:1 to 10:1
- RIGHT ATTACK — right channel: how fast gain reduction builds, 0.1 to 30 ms
- R RELEASE — right channel: how fast the gain recovers, 0.1 to 1.6 s; the last part of the travel is AUTO (programme-dependent: 80 ms for brief, light reduction up to 1.2 s for deep, sustained reduction)
- RIGHT KNEE — right channel: SOFT (0 %, the ratio blends in over 24 dB round the threshold) to HARD (100 %, a sharp corner)
- RIGHT MAKE UP — right channel: gain after the compressor, -12 to +12 dB
- RIGHT IN — right channel compressor in or out of circuit (click-free crossfade); OFF passes the channel untouched
- RIGHT HPF — right channel: a 12 dB/oct high-pass at HPF FREQ in the sidechain (the detector only), so bass does not pump the compressor
- STEREO LINK — ON: one gain reduction for both channels – the larger of the two channels’ reductions – so the stereo image never shifts; OFF: each channel compresses on its own (dual mono).
- SIDECHAIN — INT: the detector listens to the channel’s own input. EXT: it listens to the host’s sidechain input bus (left to left, right to right); if the host has no sidechain connected the detector falls back to the input.
- HPF FREQ — corner of the sidechain high-pass filters (both channels), 20 to 200 Hz; each channel’s HPF switch puts it in
- MIX — dry / wet blend of the compressed signal (parallel compression), before OUTPUT
- OUTPUT — output trim after MIX, -12 to +12 dB
- DETECTOR — RMS (5 ms window, the mastering default, reads the loudness) or PEAK (reads every transient)
- SC LISTEN — ON monitors what the detectors hear (after the sidechain switch and HPF) instead of the output – to set the HPF; never leave it on
13 factory presets in 4 categories. Formats: VST3 and AAX (Windows 10/11 64-bit); VST3, AU and AAX (macOS). Stereo output. Installed, activated and updated with RONA License Manager.
